Melissa Thompson
Motivated design leader with 20+ years of creating user-centered solutions that deliver exceptional value.
Skills
Leadership & Team Scaling
0-to-1 Product Design
Stakeholder Alignment
Product Management
Qualitative Research (interviews, usability testing, journey mapping, contextual inquiry)
Quantitative Research (surveys, A/B testing, analytics, usage data)
Workshop Facilitation & Design Thinking
Prototyping & Wireframing (Claude, Figma, Figma Make)
Design Systems
WCAG AA Accessibility
Education
The Art Institute of Seattle
Design / Desktop Production
Graduated with Honors
Graduated with Honors
Certifications
IxDF
AI for Designers
Conducting Usability Testing
Emotional Design
Adobe
A/B Testing & Personalization
Optimizing Digital Experiences
Optimizely
Web Foundations
CompTIA
Cybersecurity Analyst+ (CySA+)
Additional Experience
Speaker
UXPA Presenter 2025 — Creating Conversational Personas: Leveraging AI Bots to Enhance User Experience
Innovation Enterprise Data Visualization Summit — Data-based decision-making across the product lifecycle
UX Panelist
Develo.Idaho · CPO Summit
Experience
Datasite — Finance
2024 – Present
Product Design Manager | Jan 2025 – Present
Principal Product Designer | Sept 2024 – Jan 2025
- Serve as lead designer for Datasite AI, an agentic AI platform embedded in the VDR that enables document interrogation, cited Q&A, and data room setup through natural language
- Drive cross-functional design collaboration to unify product capabilities into cohesive AI and mobile app experiences
- Spearhead the Research Collective, consolidating fragmented customer insights across departments into a unified persona set and centralized Confluence knowledge base, enabling org-wide access and MCP integration for AI-powered research
- Lead design of a 0-to-1 social networking platform for the M&A industry within the Community & Networking Value Stream, shaping user engagement strategies and driving product-led growth
- Facilitate Design Team Meetings and Design Critique Sessions
PlexTrac — Cybersecurity
2021 – 2024
Product Design Manager | Feb 2022 – Sept 2024
Principal Product Designer | Aug 2021 – Feb 2022
Contract Product Designer | Mar 2021 – July 2021
- Led design of PlexTrac's CTEM experience, a 0-to-1 continuous threat exposure management product that contributed to PlexTrac being named in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Exposure Assessment Platforms
- Scaled the Product Design team from 1 to 7, establishing clear roles, goals, and a collaborative team charter
- Launched a UX debt reduction dashboard, achieving a 36% decrease in 6 months and improving usability
- Championed accessibility, advancing WCAG AA compliance and expanding market reach into the government sector
- Led continuous discovery and cross-functional design thinking workshops, translating user insights into product strategy and roadmap prioritization
- Spearheaded Ideas Management, using data to surface high-value initiatives and inform roadmap decisions
Boise State University — Innovation & Design
2021 – 2022
Adjunct Professor of UX Design
- Led development of the UX Design Certificate program in collaboration with the program director and faculty.
- Designed COID 353: UX Design Studio, the capstone course, equipping students with a portfolio-ready case study.
- Fostered a studio culture of constructive critique by facilitating peer design reviews and providing individualized mentorship, preparing students for the collaborative feedback loops of professional UX practice.
Cauze, Inc — Nonprofit
2020 – 2021
Chief Product Officer
- Secured partnerships with the NBA, Steph Curry Foundation, and Thnks, driving product-led growth and brand credibility
- Led design of Cauze's native mobile app, the primary channel for charitable giving across 501(c)(3) nonprofits and employer match programs
- Championed and designed a web giving channel to reduce conversion friction, enabling donations without requiring an app download or account creation
- Led product strategy and design, aligning with CEO vision and presenting to the Board
- Set and tracked metric-driven goals, fostering continuous improvement
Scentsy — Direct Sales
2015 – 2019
Digital Experience Manager | Jan 2017 – Sept 2019
UX Program Manager | Feb 2016 – Jan 2017
UX Architect | Mar 2015 – Feb 2016
- Built Scentsy's UX practice from the ground up, establishing the team, processes, and design culture that became the foundation for the organization's user-centered approach
- Grew and led a 10-person UX team from inception, fostering collaboration and user-centered innovation
- Managed the web design creative team in addition to the UX team, overseeing end-to-end digital experience from research through visual production
- Directed research, usability testing, and A/B experiments, increasing e-commerce conversion rates by 56%
- Pioneered a data-driven, design-led development process, transforming Scentsy's UX culture
- Championed accessibility, achieving WCAG AA compliance and broadening market reach
- Integrated design thinking across departments, improving stakeholder alignment and team ideation
Prior Roles
People to People Ambassador Programs · UX Designer · 2014–2015
Coldwater Creek · UX & UI Designer · 2010–2013
Loopah · Web Development Manager · 2009–2010
Sesame Communications · Web Edits Design Manager · 2007–2009
Morning Light Press · Graphic Designer · 2005–2007
Homes & Land Magazine · Graphic Designer · 2003–2005